Magestic 2, p.135
Magestic 2, page 135
‘Yes, ma’am,’ the maid conferred before trotting off, leaving Helen staring out over the lake.
The news spread quickly around my old world, Baldy’s world being notified. After all, they had almost as many people unaccounted for. Helen flew up to Mawlini on a private jet, a few members of the Pentagon Parliament along for the ride, and stepped down to a gathering crowd. A limo brought her to the portal’s control room, officials rushing about.
‘Ma’am,’ one offered, pulling out a seat.
‘What news?’
‘We can open a portal to a point twenty-two years after the previous date of contact, but no sooner. This makes us believe that whatever happened to deny us access to that world was a factor of time as much as space.’
‘In English, please.’
‘Something happened, and now it’s cleared.’
Helen stared up at the man for several seconds, a motherly disappointed look offered.
‘They’re aware of us now,’ the man sheepishly offered. ‘Comms traffic established. A group of technicians stepped through three hours ago, everything fine with the portal, it’s stable. And we’ve opened up secondary portals in Canada, America and France.’
I had been in Canada when the news hit, Susan and I having finally deciding to make our home there. A year after the British portal had failed I had commissioned a large house, a very large house, complete with indoor heated pool, and we moved across to it, the hotel returning to something resembling a hotel.
When Jimmy and his family were in Trophy they would stay at the house, but Cookie and Sandra had no desire to wait on our kids, and had elected to remain at the hotel. They took on the roles of international coordinators, and supervised visitors to the factories – and there were many. Presidents and Prime Ministers would often visit, Cookie and Sandra playing at being dutiful hosts whilst the rest of us got some peace away from the politicians.
Over the years, my kids had sometimes stayed at the hotel, sometimes when we kicked them out, sometimes when they ran away, and sometimes when they had been out partying and didn’t wish to face us drunk. Susan and I had married when Mary turned sixteen, a lavish affair attended by many of the great and the good, an August wedding to make sure we had the weather. A flyby of noisy jets and bombers signalled the cutting of the cake, and we had honeymooned in Tahiti aboard a yacht loaned to us. And, when Mary turned eighteen and went off to college - Toby busy learning to fly on weekends, Susan and I had decided to have more kids.
One cold winter’s night, Doc Graham performed a C-Section and delivered twin girls, and we could not have been happier. Both girls were gifted, talking at twelve months and solving puzzles at two years old. But, unlike their older siblings, they were the quiet and shy intellectual types, always keen for a hug from their old man.
Now, I lifted an A3 data-pad and dialled Jimmy. His face appeared, the backdrop of a roaring fire in a stone fireplace. ‘Are there any ... time issues here?’ I broached.
He took a moment. ‘No one wants to rewind, not here. The Germans on the second world have made rumblings, but they’ve now got an excellent economy and a very clean and orderly country. We’d never get a consensus.’
‘They’ve only advanced six months in 2047, now 2048,’ I stated, and waited.
Jimmy made a face. ‘There’ll be issues, not least the number of their people who now have grown children, many are grandparents of toddlers. But the folks over there know the time difference.’
‘And your plans?’
‘To stay here for a while, see what happens,’ Jimmy replied. ‘See my grandchildren toddle around, work on the UN and the World Economic Group. Still some work to be done there.’
‘And your old world?’ I nudged.
‘Yes, I may go back and work on it. Plenty to do there still, but a million emigrants a year arrive there from the other worlds.’
‘Susan and me, we’re heading over to Manson now, Shelly is meeting us there.’
‘Be good to see her, it’s been a while.’
I grabbed Susan, left the girls with the nannies, and jumped aboard a helicopter bound for Manson, our latest Trophy helicopter and not unlike the Augusta I once learnt to fly. This helicopter, however, was made of composites, could land safely on water, and rarely suffered a mechanical problem. Our security followed behind in two armed helicopters, advanced Hueys, and we made good time to Manson, stopping at the permanently manned base. No one had come through a portal in twenty-two years, but a small detachment had remained, just in case.
We walked across to the portal event horizon, finding it open and sparkling around its edges, a dozen reporters from 2047 milling around with cameras. Seeing me, they all rushed over, a million questions fired.
I raised a hand and offered them a flat palm. ‘I’ll make a brief statement, till I have all the facts.’ I took in the cameras, Susan taking a step back. ‘It’s been twenty-two years this end, twenty-two years since we last had contact with you, and I guess you’ve been as worried as we were. The 1938 war against Germany and Japan was won by Britain and America as you may know, and since that time no major wars have been fought on this world.
‘The world of 1984 suffered a nuclear attack on Berlin at the hands of the Russians, and that led to a very tense period. We used our drone aircraft to destroy the German military, then to disable the Russian military, but not before the American city of Boston had been destroyed with a heavy loss of life. As an historical footnote, that destruction galvanized public opinion against nuclear weapons, a shift in American policy.
‘The world of 1984 became peaceful, Japan negotiating away its weapons for much-needed trade concessions. The Chinese communists were a problem for a decade or so, but are now valuable trading partners, and peaceful. Here, China is an economic super-power, and peaceful. And you’ll be glad to know that electric cars are used by eighty percent of the world’s people, electric buses now law in most countries.
‘We also have a close working relationship with Jimmy’s original world, and many millions of people from these worlds have emigrated there, to help rebuild it. Here, on this world, we have safe airliners made of composites, advanced coal-oil technology, nuclear energy, and solar energy. We have orbiting satellites, and our Earth Space Station was launched five years ago, its astronauts drawn from many countries.
‘It’s fair to say that the people who came here from 2047 had read the book of Jimmy’s life, and knew a thing or two about fixing worlds. They did a great job, especially in Africa, the continent now the world’s largest economy. People of 2048: these worlds have survived, and they have thrived thanks to the help they received, my role – and Jimmy’s role, being limited. The rest was done by other travellers.
‘Where’s Mister Silo?’
‘He’s at his home in England, with his wife, Lady Helen Astor, their five children, and one grandchild – due any day now.’ I swivelled to Susan and gestured towards her. ‘This is my wife, Dr Susan Blake, and we have two grown children and two young daughters. We live in the Canadian town of Trophy.’
Shelly stepped through with her security detail.
‘If you’ll excuse me, I have family, so keep your distance.’ I led Susan on, a big hug from Shelly for her dad. ‘It’s been a while.’
‘It must be odd for you, thirty years,’ Shelly noted.
I nodded. Turning, I introduced Susan, and they shook before hugging.
‘We have something to discuss, father,’ Shelly began as she led us away. ‘You know that bath you took with mum, just before you stepped through the portal..?’
I frowned my lack of understand, and it had been thirty years.
Shelly continued, a glint in her eye, ‘Well, mum is six months pregnant, and you – you rogue – you’re the father.’
‘Oh,’ was all I could get out, a look exchanged with Susan. ‘Well,’ I added, suddenly stuck for words. ‘It was years before I met Susan,’ I said defensively.
‘Could be a scandal,’ Shelly teased.
I heaved a big sigh, a look exchanged with Susan. ‘C’mon,’ I said. ‘We’ll show you our house.’
Shelly’s security detail lugged her cases, and their own, and we chatted at length as we flew back to trophy, landing on the lawn.
‘Very nice,’ Shelly commended as she took in the house. ‘It’s almost like a Canadian hotel, but subtly different, and with a hint of Japanese.’
Inside, Cookie and Sandra were waiting, big hugs and big smiles shared with Shelly. Sat around a coffee table, we caught up on many years of separation, the news all on our side since little had happened in 2048, photograph albums dug out, many of the snaps black and white. The albums displayed the hotel in Kenya, the first hunting lodge here in Trophy, the hotel being built, the factories, the launch of new aircraft, the birth of Mary, then Toby, now colour images of our girls. Shelly wanted to see the girls, and the nannies brought in our twins, our little ladies shy as usual. They impressed Shelly with greetings in several languages.
Toby arrived a few hours later, still dressed in his flight suit, a cap on sideways. Now just over six foot, he looked tall stood next to me as he greeted his step-sister.
‘Apparently, you were a difficult child to raise,’ Shelly teased.
‘I never blew anything up that didn’t deserve to be blown up,’ he retorted. ‘And Cookie and Sandra, they got extra pay for putting up with me.’
‘It was never enough!’ Cookie complained.
‘You sound Canadian,’ Shelly told Toby. ‘Do you think of yourself as Canadian?’
‘My passport says so,’ Toby said.
Hal arrived a short while later, looking old and moving slowly. ‘My god, Hal, you’ve aged.’
‘Thanks for noticing,’ he quipped.
‘We should get you an injection,’ Shelly offered, clearly concerned.
‘They all ran out around here, and Jimmy’s blood had little effect on me,’ Hal explained. ‘So I’ve been taking it easy.’
‘Go back soon, Hal,’ Shelly urged, clearly concerned. ‘How’s Hacker?’
‘Struggling along, like me,’ Hal reported.
‘And the others?’ Shelly asked.
‘All still around, I think,’ Hal reported to her.
The household staff cooked us a meal that evening, five courses, and we allowed in two cameramen from 2048 for ten minutes, shots taken of the gathering. It wasn’t quite the end of an era, but it felt like it.
At Mawlini, Helen had spoken to a handful of Kenyans returning through the portal, and then simply ordered her security detail to follow. She waved people aside and stepped through, a crowd greeting her at the other end, soldiers lined up at the edge of Mawlini runway.
Turning, she could see many buildings, and had to do a double-take to check that she was in the right place. Both the UN hotel and the Rescue Force hotel had been faithfully re-created, as well as many other buildings. But in the distance, several glass towers sparkled.
She walked to a waiting car and jumped in, asking for a view of the base, soon in the rooftop bar and peering out as Doc Graham drew near.
‘You need a seat, love?’ he asked.
Helen turned and smiled widely, a hug given whilst leaning forwards. ‘This place has been re-created almost exactly as the original.’
‘Nostalgia,’ Doc Graham said. ‘For some around here it’s almost religious fervour, others just want to know how to get home when drunk. You ... seem to be heavily pregnant.’
‘Paul’s.’
‘Paul’s?’
‘We shared the bath water before he stepped back through the portal.’
‘Ah. You know he’s married here?’
Helen nodded, hands on her hips and her bulge pushed forwards. ‘And four children. How about you?’
‘I’m on my second marriage, three kids. But Ngomo has the record.’
‘Record?’
‘Twenty-six wives, sixty kids.’
Helen stared at Doc Graham. ‘Do they live together?’
‘Some do. There are a few here, some in Nairobi, some in New Kinshasa.’
‘New Kinshasa? You gave it the same name?’
‘This place would spook you; it’s all laid out the same, streets named the same, bars, the works. If you’re a drunken time traveller then this place could be very confusing.’
They sat, cold drinks brought over. Helen pointed. ‘That sign is the same; Sandy View Bar.’
Doc Graham smiled. ‘Some days … some days I come here and I feel right at home, and some days -’ He stopped smiling. ‘- some days it hits you hard, as if you’ve lost something very precious. Odd, really, a very mixed set of emotions.’
Helen slowly nodded her head, and sipped her drink, a jet fighter gliding by. ‘That looks familiar as well.’
‘They are. Why re-invent the wheel.’
‘So, how’s it been?’
‘We did what we set out to do, and we brought peace,’ Doc Graham proudly stated. ‘We also fixed Africa - now the largest economy, and Rescue Force plays its role as it did in our time, now over sixty thousand staff worldwide.’
‘And world politics?’
Doc Graham made a face. ‘There’ll always be arseholes who want to screw things up, or to make some money and hide it away, but overall it’s pretty good. There was no petrol-dollar crisis here - the gold standard was maintained for currencies, electric cars and buses early on. But Jimmy would tell you what really made a difference, and that was putting the Americans of 1938 together with the Americans of 1984.’
‘Putting them together?’
‘Jimmy allowed them diplomatic contact early on. The people from 1984 were like our world, and they pissed off the people from 1938, who held old-school values. So they clashed across a whole range of things, and the 1938 mob won out. They made the 1984 mob behave themselves, more so than Jimmy and Paul ever could have. And the 1938 mob got to see what a nuclear war looks like, its aftermath, and what a Cold War looked like.
‘After that they changed their attitudes on many things, and the rest was easy enough. No Cold War, not much communism around, free and fair trade, Russia involved.’
‘And Mister Han?’
‘Chairman Han of the People’s Republic, in office for twenty something years - and idolised by his people.’
‘Jimmy manoeuvred him into power?’
‘Nope, Han killed Mao and put himself in power,’ Doc Graham said with a smile.
‘I would never have believed him capable of something like that, he was always so quiet.’
‘He’s been here, reviewed the rescuers and the training facility,’ Doc Graham proudly stated. ‘He suits the role, and it suits him somehow. Oh, and Jack was the Ambassador to China for eleven years; his kids grew up there. Han visited Britain, stayed with Jimmy, Jack and everyone around for a piss up after the Chinese stiffs had been dismissed for the evening.’
‘And how’s Mister Sykes?’
‘Old, suffering a bit, he needs an injection, but all we have now is blood product, and Jimmy injecting him again didn’t help.’
‘I see that young Timkins did well for himself,’ Helen noted.
‘Jimmy nudged him towards becoming a member of parliament, and he ended up as Prime Minister, served as long as Churchill. They’re still good mates, and they all meet up at Jimmy’s place once a month.’
‘I was surprised that Jimmy finally stopped and married.’
‘Well, bit of a story there. Dr Astor and Jimmy had a fling, in Nairobi when I was there, and we brought Dr Astor into the group. She was bright anyway, and Jimmy injected her when she fell ill; saved her life. Anyway, she asked me all about freezing sperm one day -’
‘Freezing sperm?’
‘From a medical point of view, but she meant for herself. She tricked Jimmy and produced three kids, and he never knew till his son -’
‘Christopher, yes, I met him.’
‘Well he went back through time and told Dr Astor to inform Jimmy about the kids. In his timeline ... well, Jimmy never knew till they were grown.’
‘He said that he was Jimmy’s son, but little else,’ Helen commented. ‘He spoke to Paul before he came back. Was he responsible for throwing the book about time travel to the Germans?’
‘No, figured you’d know who did that?’
Helen shook her head. ‘He didn’t mention it at all.’
‘He seems to have been here, but he wasn’t the guy who jumped through from 1984 to 1938.’
‘We have a way to contact them, so maybe I’ll ask.’
‘So Jimmy was told he had three kids, and decided to make an honest woman out of her. Nice set of kids as well, all very posh and proper, a right little bunch of blue-blooded aristocrats.’ Doc Graham took a moment. ‘You ... looking forwards to another kid?’
‘Yes, is the answer, because they grow up too quickly. Right now, a quiet night in with just me and the baby in the bath would be great. I’ll ease back on work, right back.’ She took in the airfield. ‘Maybe it’s time to take a step back. I’d like to just be a mum, and not a politician.’
‘There’re a few places over here where you’d get some peace,’ Doc Graham suggested.
Helen studied Doc Graham for a moment, then simply tipped her head to the side. After greeting many people, all keen to see her again, she enquired about flights to New Kinshasa. A flight was quickly laid on, a military transport, but a comfortable one for officers, not for cargo. They lifted off an hour before sun-down, and flew into the setting sun, arriving over New Kinshasa in the dark. Helen peered down at the twinkling lights of the city, a city almost as big as back on my world.
From the airport, they drove her and the security detail down the main highway and to the best hotel, Helen soon on the thirty-second floor and staring out across the city, many of the buildings familiar. With a large red wine in her hand, she sat for hours, just watching the city’s light show below.
Shelly had spent the night with us, and all of the following day. That evening, Susan and I packed a case and returned with Shelly to the portal in Manson, passing through with many other people returning to 2048, and soon on a comfortable airliner bound for Africa, for Goma Hub, Baldy and his wife for company.
